Abstract Summary
Longitudinal assessment of gait stability in populations with a higher risk of falling may enable novel fall prevention efforts. This study investigated the reliability of characterizing walking under different cognitive loads using gait stability measures. Within- and between-day reliability of short-term maximum Lyapunov exponents was assessed using inertial measurement units (IMUs) in a generally healthy population during varying numbers of short walking bouts of 20 meters for normal walking and two cognitive dual-task conditions. As a result, only marginal improvements in reliability were observed when including more than 15-20 bouts of walking 20 meters. The methods of short bouts of gait and affordable IMUs create opportunities for future use in clinical settings.
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